Preparation and Professionalism..that's Vantage

Good afternoon everyone!  What a crazy month and a half we've had here at Vantage.  Weather cancellations seem to have become more of the rule than the exception, so we've had a very "broken" schedule.  This much starting and stopping can be a real challenge for teachers as they try to get students through all of the necessary content, not to mention prepping for tests and working around other scheduling conflicts that were already built in.  For teachers in a career tech building like ours, those challenges multiply even more.  This time of year is also prime time for Career Technical Student Organizations like SkillsUSA, Business Professionals of America FCCLA, and HOSA to hold their annual competitions which test the knowledge and skills our students have gained in their labs here.
As always, though, our teachers have done so much more than just taking it in stride.  As an example, today we are having our Mock Interview Day for all of our seniors.  Each senior has had (or will still have) the opportunity to sit down for a 30 minute interview session with a professional from their chosen field.  These local business professionals have already been commenting on how great this experience is, both for them (and their businesses) and our students.
Our students have shown up dressed professionally, with confident smiles, and an aura of "I'm going to knock this out of the park" (baseball season is right around the corner, despite what the weather might be trying to convince us).  As students have left the building, they have also remarked about the insight and tips they've received today in their interview sessions, as well as throughout their nearly 2 years here at Vantage.  I firmly believe this is a direct reflection not only on our students willingness to prepare, but on our staff's constant efforts to help our students learn the ins and outs of professionalism.  This level of confidence they've gained in themselves is the reason all of us have entered the realm of educating students.  This is what I see as the #vantagewill. 
My point in this post is simply that our teachers and staff here at Vantage are truly a wonderful group of people who are willing to navigate whichever obstacles may pop up throughout the course of a school year in order to improve our kids and prepare them for the world of employment.  Today has been a great testament to that dedication, and I am once again as thankful as I possibly could be to work here.
All of us at Vantage are also extremely grateful to our local business professionals who were willing to volunteer their time today to help almost 200 seniors hone their interview skills and improve their chances of landing the jobs they came to Vantage to pursue.  It truly has been an all around amazing effort.  Finally, a special nod of thanks must go out to Mrs. Mary Ann Falk and our English Department here at Vantage.  Mary Ann has been the catalyst and organizer of this event since the idea was first presented almost 3 years ago, and our English teachers have helped our students develop outstanding resume's and other professional documents in advance of their interviews.
Thank you all for taking the time to read this.  If you're a local business professional who would like to be a part of Mock Interview Day in the future, please don't hesitate to contact me.  Have a great rest of your week!